She was Too Scandalous, Even for 1920s Berlin

Berlin is a city of ghosts and one of the most alluring phantoms is Anita Berber, the high priestess of debauchery; she of the kohl black eyes and flaming red hair and vermillion lips. Immortalised by Otto Dix’s paintbrush, this Weimar cabaret goddess challenged all the taboos with her performances and broke boundaries that would…

Girl Crush du Jour: Vanessa Paradis

Perhaps it’s because we share the first name (yes, if you haven’t figured it out, Nessy is short for Vanessa), perhaps it’s because she’s a Parisian and I’m now attempting to call myself one or maybe it’s just because we both like Johnny Depp– whatever the reason, Vanessa Paradis is my girl crush du jour.…

The Circus Girls, 1949

There’s something about this photo story that I dug out of the LIFE archives that makes me want to pack up my website and join the circus. Shot by the acclaimed photographer Nina Leen in 1949, we find our sassy subculture of circus girls in Sarasota, Florida, dubbed “the home of the American circus”. You…

Being Henri Matisse’s Assistant: The Story of Madame Lydia

The saying is that behind every great man there is a woman. In the case of Henri Matisse, that woman was not considered to be his wife of 40 years, but a penniless refugee who was barely surviving in 1932, when she found temporary work with the French modern master. Her name was Lydia Delectorskaya,…

15 Fabulous Frida Kahlo Moments in Rarely Seen Photographs

As a huge Frida Kahlo fan myself, I thought I’d seen just about all the best photographs of the iconic artist, but today I stumbled upon an enormous archive of personal snaps on the Casa Azul tumblr site. It may not be her estate’s official Tumblr, but it sure feels like I’ve been flicking through…

Marge Simpson, the Style Icon

With that towering head of blue hair, we tend to forget that Marge Simpson has a killer body – for a bright yellow cartoon character, that is. So what better way to show off those famous Simpson curves than have her recreate some of the most memorable moments in fashion history? Italian illustrator, AleXsandro Palombo,…

How One Woman’s Lock of Hair could Become the World’s Most Precious Diamond

Like us, you might have assumed that a perfect diamond can only come from deep under the Earth’s crust, made from molten rock and metals, consisting of pure carbon which has been subject to immense and temperature for millions of years. But here’s a fun fact: hair and diamonds are both made out of carbon. And with…

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Interview with a Parisian Burlesque Dancer

I was at a masked party one evening in Paris when Marie Antoinette showed up in nothing but her underwear, albeit very pretty underwear indeed. She prowled sumptuously about the room until she found a stage and proceeded to perform the most hypnotising dance with two giant feather fans. Who is that woman behind the feathers? What is…

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The Forgotten LGBT Queen of Paris and Her Secret Masonic Temple

She was the kind of woman who never belonged to anyone but herself. At least, when it came to love. But for Natalie Clifford Barney, life overflowed with colour, creativity, and passion in Paris’ Left Bank during one of city’s most romantic periods. Think of her as a lesser-known Gertrude Stein, albeit one who curated…

A Photographer’s Forgotten Muse on the French Riviera

There was definitely something about Renée. When the legendary French photographer Jacques-Henri Lartigue met her while strolling the streets of Paris in 1930, he fell in love instantly. Tall, chic and hiding coquettishly under a wide elegant hat, he nicknamed her the ‘parasol’. Together they embarked on what Lartigue remembers as an “eternal vacation”, a dreamlike two-year holiday in the…